Landlady being a pain.......sister in trouble

sadpootle

Bit of a complicated one…..
My sister is currently renting a property through a letting agency, but she has to deal with the landlady about any concerns and matters regarding the property, and her monthly rent payments go into the landlady’s account.

She has given the landlady notice and is moving into another property at the end of this month.

However her landlady has been a bit of a nightmare over the last few weeks. My sister was a silly moo and broke the tenancy agreement by letting her step-sons’ pet dog stay in the house (she has now been lumbered with the dog permanently) but the landlady has been aware of it and did not have a problem with it; neither did the letting agency.

A few days ago the landlady came to visit my sister to check the place over and she was happy that it was clean and had been well looked after. A couple went to view the property and my sister was informed they would be given a key to let themselves in. However according to this couple they were NOT given a key and were relying on my sister to be at home and let them in when they turned up (my sister was at work.) Now the landlady has accused my sister of lying and losing her possible future tenants. She has given her 2 days to get rid of the dog, claims that the house will need fumigating and the carpets will need cleaning (funny how she didn’t mention this when she came to inspect the property). My sister can’t understand why she’s making such a fuss about that as it’s in her tenancy agreement to do that before she leaves anyway! There have been other instances too when she’s said one thing one minute and something completely different the next. Basically she has been incredibly rude to my sister, who is very upset and quite frankly doesn’t need the hassle (our mum passed away recently and my sister is currently pregnant.)


My sister is worried that her current landlady will refuse to give a reference/give a bad reference to her new landlady.
Can she ask the letting agency themselves to give a reference or can she ask another, previous landlady/landlord for one?
What happens if her landlady refuses to give her back her deposit or take money out of it for any reason?
Can she ask to deal solely with the letting agency until she has moved out? Any advice would be much appreciated.:o

BitterAndTwisted

Has your sister's landlady given her any information about which deposit protection scheme her deposit is held in?

If the landlady is unwilling to give your sister a good reference there's not really anything that she can do about it but she could try and give the letting agency's info to any prospective landlords. It's not unknown for renters to have to deal with idiotic or unreasonable landlords so a reference from a previous one should suffice.

sadpootle

It SHOULD be in a deposit protection scheme as she moved into the property in 2008. I'll ask my sis to look into it further.
Thanks for advice re getting ref from the letting agency but my sister has just texted me saying it's too late, the request for a reference from her current landlady has gone out

missile

I would not give a reference to any tennant who moved a dog in without permission and I would deduct the cost of cleaning fumigating from the deposit.

BitterAndTwisted

sadpootle wrote: »

Now the landlady has accused my sister of lying and losing her possible future tenants. She has given her 2 days to get rid of the dog, claims that the house will need fumigating and the carpets will need cleaning (funny how she didn’t mention this when she came to inspect the property). My sister can’t understand why she’s making such a fuss about that as it’s in her tenancy agreement to do that before she leaves anyway! I don't think your sister should worry abut this for the moment. If she is planning to have the property's carpets professionally cleaned (or up to that standard) before check-out then everything should be satisfactory, especially if the dog has been protected against fleas all the time it has been there. This is the major worry for landlords, apart from damage and doggy smells lingering.


My sister is worried that her current landlady will refuse to give a reference/give a bad reference to her new landlady. The landlady might refer to the dog being in the property in contravention of the terms of the agreement but she can't make any sensible reference to any damage until the check-out has taken place as your sister still has time before it expires to put anything right.
Can she ask the letting agency themselves to give a reference or can she ask another, previous landlady/landlord for one?
What happens if her landlady refuses to give her back her deposit or take money out of it for any reason? IF the deposit is lodged in a deposit-protection scheme the landlord cannot make any spurious deductions. Any deductions which are disputed will not be released until both parties reach an agreement or go to arbitration.
Can she ask to deal solely with the letting agency until she has moved out? Any advice would be much appreciated.:o

The major worry is the two-day's notice to get rid of the dog and unfortunately I have no sensible advice to give on this particular point.

Was there a mutually signed check-in inventory done at the beginning of the tenancy? Because if there was not the landlord is going to have an impossible task proving that any damage or deficiency was the result of your sister's tenancy.

RAS

And i would have thought that the landlady is on a very sticky wicket re the prospective tenant. Your sister is entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property and is under no legal obligation to let the landlady into the house to do an inspection prior to leaving or to make arrangments for prospective tenants to view.

mlz1413

a few basics, has your sister given the correct notice - she can check this with LA.

the LL and LA should never give strangers a key to a tenanted property, your sister should only allow accompanied viewings IF she is happy with that, she can refuse viewings within her tenancy.

if the LL was ok with the dog and now is not then it will be tough to argue as nothing is in writing apart from the tenancy saying it should not be there. Get her to tell her step-son he has to look after his own dog until she has moved (presuming next house allows pets).

Your sister can deal directly with LA, she should already have notice of which scheme her deposit is with, if she doesn't then write recorded delv to the LA and ask for the info withon 7 days.

If the LL contacts sister direct do not answer phone and let LL leave a message, answer LL through LA and back up in writing.

The reference if needed can be directed to LA, but if sister already has somewhere to move to then I would think all the references are already done.

BitterAndTwisted

This is why all contact about inspections and viewings should be in writing. Landlords are obliged to give the tenant 24 hours notice and even then the tenant can decline and/or suggest an alternative time and date which is convenient to them.

This landlady sounds like a rank amateur who doesn't understand her obligations and this bodes very, very ill.

sadpootle

Thanks for all your helpful posts (bar one.)
Since I last wrote on here my sister rang me. Her landlady was sending her texts late into the night, now apologising for her behaviour! My sister replied this morning saying that she does not want to deal with her by text and could she refrain from sending her messages, especially late at night. She also made it clear she will be dealing with the letting agency only from now on. She pointed out that she will adhere to the tenancy agreement re cleaning the place before she goes but will not accept anyone viewing the house whilst she's out; she has to be present and has to be given sufficient notice. Basically my sister was very polite, straightforward and proffessional and the last msge she got back from her landlady was a cordial one. So perhaps she will get a good reference after all! However, she is keeping all the text msges from her landlady just in case there's any future disagreement!:o

Fire_Fox

And is her deposit lodged?